Personalized Game Board and Display Case

ABSTRACT

A customizable game board adaptable for display on a horizontal or vertical surface, such that the customizable components remain in their appropriate locations on the game board regardless of the orientation with respect to the direction force of gravity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS1904-01-05

This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application number 61/510,073, filed 20 Jul. 2011 by the present inventor, Zachary S. Sullivan.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Board games structured around the activity of buying, selling, renting and improving real estate have been around at least as early as the early 1900's. Elizabeth “Lizzie” Magie created “The Landlord's Game,” applying for, and receiving at U.S. Pat. No. 748,626, issued on 5 Jan 1904, and U.S. Pat. No. 1,509,312, issued on 23 Sep 1924. Charles Darrow adapted the concepts into a game called Monopoly®, the rights to which are currently owned by Hasbro, Inc., of Pawtucket, R.I. Those earlier game board were made of various materials, include being printed on cloth, so as to be rolled up for transport, or on cardboard, so as to be folded for storage and transport.

It would be an addition to the art to adapt similar board games to a display case configuration, constructed out of presentation-grade materials, so as to store the game in plain sight in a home. It would be of particular novelty and interest to construct the game board so as to make the board, typically used in a horizontal orientation, displayable in a vertical orientation. It would be a further addition to the art to configure a game board so as to be variable, and modifiable, so that the game may be adapted to reflect personalized locations and properties.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be explained in conjunction with an illustrative embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary Game Board and Display Case of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a front view of the exemplary device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the game board frame of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the central compartment cover of the exemplary device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of two game tiles according to the current disclosure;

FIGS. 6 a-6 e are schematic diagrams of cross-sectional views of exemplary tile wells, illustrating various ways available to removably secure tiles in the designated wells of the game board.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, an exemplary game board 100 is shown configured and assembled for either storage or display. So configure, the exemplary game board 100 may be displayed in any attitude, with the tiles 102 securely fixed in the board wells 104, delineated by the well dividers 106. A transparent play surface 108 is secured into position over the wells. In the exemplary embodiment, the play surface 108 is constructed from four rectangular pieces of relatively rigid transparent material, which rest in a groove 110 in the perimeter wall 112. Suitable relatively rigid transparent material may include tempered glass and plexiglass, among other substances. The corner wells 104′ are square in shape, so as to be as wide as they are long. The each piece of the play surface 108 is as long as the span from across one corner well 104′ to the leading edge of an adjacent corner well 104′. As such, each piece of the play surface 108 covers all the standard wells 104 along one side of the board 100, and one corner well 104′. The pieces of the play surface 108 are secured in place by the center cover 114, which is fixedly removable from the center of the board 100, and is wide and long enough to extend over the inner edge of the pieces of the play surface 108.

In the exemplary embodiment, knobs 116 provide a handle with which to lift the center cover 114 from the board 100. Knobs 116 may be rotatable with corresponding rotatable latch protrusions (not shown) on the opposite side of the center cover 114 from the knobs 116, that both permits securing each knob 116 to the center cover 116, and also permits engagement with the board 100, to securely affix the center cover 116 to the board 100 as desired. Alternative latch systems, known to those of ordinary skill in the art of the field of small hardware securement devices, may be employed within the scope of this disclosure.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 3, a rigid frame 300 for board 100 is shown. The structural support of perimeter wall 112 and interior wall 304 provide a rigid form for the dividers 106, which, along with the well floor 302, define the wells 104 and corner wells 104′. The interior wall 304 may be used to define a center storage compartment 306, for the assembly and storage of loose game components (not shown). Securing the center cover 116 over the center storage compartment 306 enables the center storage compartment 306 to contain loose game components when the board 100 is oriented in ways that would otherwise permit loose items to fall out under the force of gravity. In this disclosure the term rigid means the nature of the frame to provide a stable shape that supports dividers 106 being able to create wells 104. In the presence of such rigidity, the frame may still be segmented for folding by various suitable means, such as by hinges or flexure components in specific coordinated locations that permit the reduction of the overall dimensions of the frame 300.

Referring now to FIG. 5, exemplary tiles 102 are shown to have a tile depth 502. The exemplary tiles 102 are made of ceramic, and provide for a more substantial weight that can feel more valuable. The inventor appreciates a variety of other materials that are known to those of ordinary skill in the art of artifacts and trinkets may have suitable heft and tactile qualities, including stone, wood, and assorted precious, semi-precious, and common metals and gems.

Now, referring to FIGS. 6 a-6 e, the multiple exemplary embodiment of the device illustrates various ways the inventor considers available to removably secure the tiles 102 in the designated wells 104 (hereafter inclusive of 104′) of the board 100. In FIG. 6 a a securement element 608 is shown. This may be various elements that will provide removable securement of the tile 102 to the board frame 300, so as to permit the board 100 to be turned vertically and the tiles 102 remain positioned in the wells 104. Examples of a suitable securement element 608 may include, without limitation, hook and loop fastener, adhesive strip, and tongue and groove connectors, or other anchor and receiver sets.

Referring to FIG. 6 b, an alternate exemplary embodiment is shown to use magnetic attraction to removably secure the tile 102 to the board frame 300. In this example the tile 102 may be formed from metal and a magnet 610 is embedded in the well floor 302 of frame 300. FIG. 6 c provides another exemplary embodiment that similarly uses magnetic attraction to removably secure the tile 102 to the board frame 300. In this example a magnet 612 may be integrated with the tile 102, and the well floor 302 may have a metal component 614, either as part of the board frame 300, or secured to or into the well floor 302. Given this disclosure, other variations of magnets and metal understood to be suitably employable to removably secure the tile 102 to the well floor 302 of board frame 300.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 d, an alternate exemplary embodiment is shown that employs impinging forces to secure the tile 102 to the board frame 300. In FIG. 6 d, a particularly shaped protrusion interface 616 may be insertable within a correspondingly shaped orifice 618 to provide an impinging securement 620. Either or both the orifice structure 618 or the protrusion structure 616 may be formed from a slightly deformable material, so as to permit their interlocking engagement, while suitably resisting disengagement. Though in the exemplary embodiment the protrusion structure 616 protrudes from the well floor 302, and the orifice structure 618 extends into the tile 102, this orientation may be reversed, so the protrusion structure 616 protrudes from the tile 102, and the orifice structure 618 extends into the well floor 302.

Referring now to FIGS. 6 e, an alternate exemplary embodiment is shown that employs impinging forces to secure the tile 102 to the well floor 302. In FIG. 6 e, impingement between deformable dividers 622 and the tile 102 to provide adequate securement to maintain the tile 102 within the well 604 of the board frame 300. In this alternate exemplary embodiment the deformable dividers 622 are constructed so as to be slightly deformable, to permit the tile 102 to seat in to the well 104 in the board frame 300. Once the tile 102 is in position in the well 104, the deformable dividers 622 impinge on the tile 102 to provide the suitable securement. As a variation of this embodiment, an alternate deformable tile (not shown) may be suitably deformable, so as to appropriately interface with suitably rigid dividers 106.

This disclosure claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 61/510,073, filed 20 Jul. 2011, and incorporates all the diagrams, photos and illustrations, along with text describing what is portrayed therein, of a particular exemplary embodiment of the current invention. The elements shown in the illustrations, both in this specification and the provisional application, may disclose more than the particular embodiment, in that one skilled in the art, given the disclosure contained in the photos, will be able to appreciate the elements contained, as well as those understood to be equivalents or variations that would not be novel over the particular elements shown. The provisional application is therefore incorporated by reference to provide a better understanding and appreciation of the entire scope of the currently development. All the portrayed variations, and those variations that may be seen as obvious in light of the novel elements presented herein, are considered by the inventor to be within the scope of the current invention.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention is illustrative and explanatory thereof. Various changes in the details of the illustrated construction may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention. The present invention should only be limited by the following claims and their legal equivalents. 

1. A game board comprising: a rigid frame with a plurality of wells positioned in a pattern about the frame that supports the play of a game; a plurality of tiles suitably sized to be positionable within the wells; and a securement element to secure the tiles within the wells in resistance to gravity.
 2. The game board of claim 1, where the securement element is intermediate a tile and a well floor.
 3. The game board of claim 1, further comprising: a play surface fixedly positionable on the frame, over the wells.
 4. The game board of claim 1 further comprising: wells formed as voids, each delineated by a floor surface on the frame, and bordered on one side by a perimeter wall, an opposite side by an interior wall, partitioned off from adjacent wells by dividers, having a first and second side generally perpendicular to the dividers where the first side is a section of the floor surface, and the second side is open; and a well floor defined by the floor surface section proximate to the well.
 5. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a hook and loop fastener combination, where either the hook or the loop component is securely affixed to a tile and the complimentary component is affixed to the well floor.
 6. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a magnet in the well floor; and a tile made of a magnetic attractive material.
 7. The game board of claim 6, where the magnetic attractive material is a metal.
 8. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a magnet in a tile; and at least a portion of the well floor made of a magnetic attractive material.
 9. The game board of claim 8, where the magnetic attractive material is a metal.
 10. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a protrusion and orifice affixment combination, where one of either the tile and the well floor comprises one of either a protrusion component and a complimentary orifice component, and the other of the tile and the well floor comprises the other of either the protrusion component and the complimentary orifice component.
 11. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a deformable tile; and a pair of dividers precisely shaped to permit the forced insertion and resist the removal of the tile.
 12. The game board of claim 4, wherein the securement element further comprising: a pair of deformable dividers precisely shaped to permit the forced insertion and resist the removal of a tile.
 13. A game board comprising: a rigid frame with a plurality of wells positioned in a pattern about the frame that supports the play of a game; each well proximate a well floor and at least two dividers; a plurality of tiles suitably sized to be positionable within the wells; a play surface fixedly positionable on the frame, over the wells; and a securement element to secure the tiles within the wells sufficiently to overcome the force of gravity oriented to separate them.
 14. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a hook and loop fastener combination, where either the hook or the loop component is securely affixed to a tile and the complimentary component is affixed to the well floor.
 15. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a magnet in the well floor; and a tile comprising a magnetic attractive material.
 16. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a tile comprising a magnet; and the well floor comprising a magnetic attractive material.
 17. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a protrusion and orifice affixment combination, where one of either the tile and the well floor comprises one of either a protrusion component and a complimentary orifice component, and the other of the tile and the well floor comprises the other of either the protrusion component and the complimentary orifice component.
 18. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a deformable tile; and a pair of dividers precisely shaped to permit the forced insertion and resist the removal of the tile.
 19. The game board of claim 13, wherein the securement element further comprising: a pair of dividers precisely shaped and at least one divider being deformable, to permit the forced insertion and resist the removal of a tile.
 20. A game board comprising: a rigid frame with wells positioned in a pattern about the frame that supports the play of a game; a plurality of tiles suitably sized to be positionable within the wells; and a means for the tiles to resist gravity in position within the wells. 